Scratches (Fred Weasley)

(169) Calm Before the Storm

Florence sat on the floor of the living room, her eyes squinted as one hand continuously stroked Miss Mimsy's snow white fur. The other one was rested on the coffee table, fingers tapping a steady rhythm as she eyed the chessboard in front of her, before averting it at the overeager Gryffindor sitting in front of her.

"You've been at that for ten minutes," Hermione reminds her with a hint of frustration, and was immediately met by Florence's shushing noises. Miss Mimsy meowed, as if trying to communicate with her, to which she nodded to, "You're right Miss Mimsy. I can't do that."

The cat meowed again, before burrowing herself into the crook of her arm. She was not seen around the house a lot lately, as she too was overwhelmed with the number of guests in her house. Florence had presumed her to be either dead or missing, that is, until she walked out of the elves' quarters, completely alive and unscathed. Since then she hung around Florence almost frequently, destroying their initial intolerance for each other.

Finally, much to Hermione's relief, Florence picked up a piece and moved it. Seeing her devious smile, Florence realized she had fallen in to the young Gryffindor's trap, as Hermione moved her piece with lightning speed before beaming up at her, "Checkmate."

"Aw, I didn't see that!" she huffed, flopping backwards to lay on the floor in defeat, "Good game, but that was an absolutely stupid mistake."

"She wiped the floor with you, Florence," Ginny chuckled, as she ate a bowl of caramel popcorn on the couch. Still taking in her defeat, she sighed once more, before putting her hand out, "Alright, give me the badge." she said in a monotone voice, Hermione excitedly handing her one of the S.P.E.W badges, "Remember, on your uniform, for a week."

"I'll look ridiculous but a deal is a deal." she got up to her feet, before picking Miss Mimsy up from the floor, "So, you girls ready to go back to school?"

"I'd rather not," Ginny said rather sadly. She quite enjoyed her stay at the Price manor, especially when she noticed the steady stream of snacks in the pantry and in the refrigerator, due to Sirius seeking his creative outlet in all forms of cooking. Two days ago, he made caramel popcorn, which was what Ginny was finishing.

"How's Quidditch going by the way? Word from your brother is that you're playing Chaser." asked Florence, setting Miss Mimsy down on the couch to let her roam free.

"Its going good, really. Harry's kind of an indecisive captain but we help him out. Cho got captaincy for Ravenclaw."

"Yes I heard. How is she doing?"

"The games have been good. They beat Slytherin before break," said Hermione, "That means they're the biggest threat to Gryffindor this year." said Hermione, who was packing up Ron's Wizard's chess  set, making Ginny grin, "Don't get too happy there Florence, we're demolishing Ravenclaw."

"I'd like to see you try," she said back, sticking her tongue out at Ginny jokingly, "I might watch that game myself now."

"Watch what now?" asked Fred, as he and George descended from the stairs, briefcase in hand. They were going back to the shop to open it up again after the holidays, while Florence decided to stay back for a couple days. "She's gonna watch us demolish the Ravenclaws for the Quidditch cup." Ginny said simply, making Fred grin, "Nice."

Florence shot him a look.

"Hey hey, he may become your husband soon, but his loyalty will always lie with his house." George said, Fred nodding in agreement, "You can take the man out of Gryffindor, but you can't take Gryffindor out of him."

She threw her hands up exasperatedly, "Looks like I'm outnumbered here. You guys are lucky that Nic and Xander aren't here—"

They heard a knock on the door, making everyone freeze. Florence felt a surge of panic go through her, looking to the others, "Were we expecting a visitor?"